Remote control systems, including devices with a signal generator and a signal receiver for providing controlled access to information and/or communication channels, whereby signal generator and signal receiver are set to transmit and receive an infra-red signal or radio signal, respectively, and the signal receiver is set to provide access to the information and/or communication channels on receiving the signal, are known. Suitable information and/or communication channels include the entire range of radio, television, film channels and video channels, plus all possible data channels. Remote controls are also known for toys, computers, consumer electronics, automobiles, etc.
Such a device is in itself known and is widely used in combination with providing paid access to television channels or film channels in hotel rooms, for example. By using an appropriate computer system, it is possible to monitor how long and which television and/or film channels are watched and whether an Internet connection is used, for example. Besides the fact that such systems are particularly expensive, the disadvantage of such a system for the hotel guest is that his/her privacy can easily be invaded. In particular, the log of hotel guest activities may be an invasion of privacy, and the distribution of that log as part of a bill problematic.
Another known, simpler system allows the hotel guest to rent an operating unit when he/she registers at the hotel reception desk, and provides the hotel guest access to the available information and communication channels during his/her stay. Such a system has the disadvantage that careful administration has to be kept of who has been provided with such an operating unit, whether the operating unit has been returned and whether it has actually been paid for. The transport of the unit also opens it to possible theft or damage.
Micropayment technologies are known which allow, using cryptographic security, a reasonably secure payment to be made without requiring real-time verification. Some of these technologies also allow re-spending of received value. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,999,919 expressly incorporated herein by reference. See also Rivest and Shamir, “PayWord and MicroMint: Two Simple Micropayment Schemes” (May 7, 1996), all of which are expressly incorporated herein by reference.
Rolling code technologies provide a method for cryptographically communicating using a cryptographic scheme which changes with use or time. The encryption key seed and decryption key seed each advance incrementally and are kept in synchronization. Thus defeats replay attacks, since old messages no longer have the proper cryptographic properties. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,050,947; 6,980,655; 6,900,720; 6,882,729; 6,810,123; 6,690,796; 6,323,566; 6,249,582; 6,225,889; 6,194,991; 6,154,544; 6,078,271; 6,046,680; 6,028,527, each of which is expressly incorporated herein by reference.
Challenge Response technologies require a two-way communication between two systems which seek to communicate. Typically, one system seeks to authenticate the other, but the technology is also capable of authenticating both systems to each other. DTCP (content protection for IEEE-1394) employ such technologies. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,051,212; 7,025,209; 7,010,692; 6,981,145; 6,850,252; 6,792,533; 6,640,304; 6,607,136; 6,427,140, expressly incorporated herein by reference.